Russian Federation calls Syrian 'chemical attack' staged

Sergey Lavrov did not specify which agency or provide evidence, but he warned the West against proposed military action.

A day before a team from the worldwide chemical weapons watchdog was to arrive in Douma, just east of Damascus, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj.

He added without elaboration that Moscow has "irrefutable information that it was another fabrication".

Opposition activists, rescue workers and medics say dozens of people died in a suspected chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Douma on Saturday.

Moscow strongly warned against any strikes and threatened to retaliate.

Trump chastised Syria's two main allies, Russia and Iran, for their roles in supporting "murderous dictators", adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin had guaranteed a 2013 global agreement for al-Assad to get rid of all of his chemical weapons.

According to a statement by the French presidency, Mr Macron called for dialogue between France and Russian Federation to "continue and intensify" to bring peace and stability to Syria. The Kremlin readout said that Putin warned against rushing to blame the Syrian government before conducting a "thorough and objective probe".

"The most important thing is to refrain from ill-considered and unsafe actions that would constitute a gross violation of the UN Charter and would have unpredictable consequences", the office of the president said in a statement after the call.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said President Donald Trump "has not yet made a decision about possible actions in Syria". "We can not take such risks", said Mr Dvorkovich at a forum.

Russian officials alleged quickly after last Saturday's suspected attack that the images of victims in Douma were fake.

The action followed a week of threats of retaliation for an alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians in Douma, outside Damascus, where Syrian forces have always been battling rebels. But he also appeared anxious to avoid a wider conflict, saying France would "in no way allow an escalation."German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference on Friday that Damascus had a record of using chemical weapons and that there were "strong indications pointing towards the Syrian regime" in this case".

The suspected attack, denied by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, was carried out last week, reportedly killing over 70 people.

On the ground in Syria, rebels in Eastern Ghouta surrendered their heavy weapons and their leader left the enclave, signaling the end of one of the bloodiest assaults of the seven-year war and a major win for the Assad regime.

Inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are expected to arrive in Syria over the weekend to investigate the reported attack, following an invitation from Damascus.

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